This insight focuses attention on
a specific location for MS indicated damage.
In the process established therapies are also strongly indicated that
counter the effects of the implied damage.
This has been a case of tracking back the effects of implied damage.
We are still a long ways from an
actual cure or even to know if MS may be prevented.
Recent disclosures on concussion
damage among athletes are finally waking people up to the horrible price
individuals are paying in order to succeed in certain games. A little damage in the right location can
likely produce MS.
The whole issue of head impact is
now coming front and center and will not end until sports are modified to
hugely lower the risks.
The two worst team sports are Hockey
and Football. Hockey is easily fixed by
ending the body check once and for all.
If anything the sport becomes more skill driven and naturally
dynamic. The only alternative for
football may be touch football and that is a very different game altogether.
The individual sport of boxing is
by definition a concussion sport however conducted and really should be
abandoned. The sad fate of Mohammed Ali
should dispel any doubt on this matter.
The brain is way too important to
play roulette with as certain sports seem to demand. The head is not a weapon but the repository of
a jelly like material that easily rips and tears. Healing is possible if only one blow occurs,
but unlikely if two blows occur in two separate directions. Real brain damage sets in and much rewiring
is needed to set things right if at all.
I suspect that a teat for active
brain damage is indicated from this work.
Apply it to sports injuries and we will soon see if certain sports are
able to retain their players.
Released: 2/11/2011 11:20 AM EST
Newswise — Researchers at the University
of Illinois at Chicago
The study is available online in the journal Brain.
The pathological processes in MS are not well understood, but an
important contributor to its progression is the infiltration of white blood
cells involved in immune defense through the blood-brain barrier.
Douglas Feinstein, research professor in anesthesiology at the UIC
College of Medicine, and his colleagues previously showed that the
neurotransmitter noradrenaline plays an important role as an immunosuppressant
in the brain, preventing inflammation and stress to neurons. Noradrenaline is
also known to help to preserve the integrity of the blood-brain barrier.
Because the major source of noradrenaline is neurons in an area of the
brain called the locus coeruleus, the UIC researchers hypothesized that damage
to the LC was responsible for lowered levels of noradrenaline in the brains of
MS patients.
"There’s a lot of evidence of damage to the LC in Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s disease, but this is the first time that it has been demonstrated
that there is stress involved to the neurons in the LC of MS patients, and that
there is a reduction in brain noradrenaline levels," said Paul Polak,
research specialist in the health sciences in anesthesiology and first author
on the paper.
For the last 15 years, Feinstein and his colleagues have been studying
the importance of noradrenaline to inflammatory processes in the brain.
"We have all the models for studying this problem, so in some ways
it was a small step to look at this question in MS," said Polak.
The researchers found that LC damage and reduced levels of
noradrenaline occur in a mouse model of MS and that similar changes could be
found in the brains of MS patients.
The findings suggest that LC damage, accompanied by reduction in
noradrenaline levels in the brain, may be a common feature of neurologic diseases,
Polak said.
"There are a number of FDA-approved drugs that have been shown to
raise levels of noradrenaline in the brain, and we believe that this type of
therapeutic intervention could benefit patients with MS and other
neurodegenerative diseases, and should be investigated," he said.
Sergey Kalinin, post-doctoral research associate in anesthesiology,
also contributed to the study. This study was supported by grants from the
Department of Veteran Affairs and Partners for Cures.
For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu
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